Military career of Napoleon

Emperor of the French Napoleon I
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries by Jacques-Louis David, 1812
Nickname(s)	"General Vendémiaire", "The Little Corporal", "Napoleon the Great"
Born	(1769-08-15)August 15, 1769 Ajaccio, Corsica
Died	May 5, 1821(1821-05-05) (aged 51) Longwood, St. Helena
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	Trained as an artillerist
Years of service	1779–1815
Rank	Commander in Chief (Head of State)
Commands held	Army of Italy Army of the Orient French Army Grande Armée
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars War of the First Coalition French campaign in Egypt and Syria War of the Second Coalition Napoleonic Wars War of the Third Coalition War of the Fourth Coalition Peninsular War War of the Fifth Coalition French invasion of Russia War of the Sixth Coalition War of the Seventh Coalition
Awards	Grand Master of the Legion of Honour Grand Master of the Order of the Reunion Grand Master of the Order of the Iron Crown Grand Master of the Order of the Three Golden Fleeces
Relations	House of Bonaparte
Other work	Sovereign of Elba, writer

The military career of Napoleon Bonaparte spanned over 20 years. As emperor, he led the French armies in the Napoleonic Wars. Widely regarded as a military genius and one of the finest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns have been studied at military schools worldwide. He fought more than 70 battles, losing only seven, mostly at the end. The great French dominion collapsed rapidly after the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon was defeated in 1814 and exiled to the island of Elba, before returning and was finally defeated in 1815 at Waterloo. He spent his remaining days in British custody on the remote island of St. Helena.

Early career

Napoleon's early career is well covered. The most thorough coverage of his campaigns is by David G. Chandler.

1769

August 15 – Born Nabulione di Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica

1778

December 15 – Leaves Corsica for mainland France

1779

January 1 – Enters a religious school at Autun

May 15 – Enters cadet school at Brienne-le-Château

1784

October 30 – Enters the École Militaire in Paris

1785

September 1 – Graduates from the École Militaire and is commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of Artillery

October 30 – Reports to first posting with the La Fère Artillery Regiment at Valence-sur-Rhône

1786

September 1 – Goes to Corsica on long furlough until June 1788

1788

June – Rejoins his regiment at Auxonne, attached to the School of Artillery

1789

September 15 – Goes on second leave to Corsica, becomes involved in revolutionary activities and attempts to gain favour with Pasquale Paoli

1791

February 10 – Returns from Corsica to regimental duty at Auxonne

April 1 – Promoted to 1st Lieutenant

September 1 – Third furlough to Corsica

1792

February 6 – Promoted to Captain (antedated)

April 1 – Elected Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, Corsican Volunteers. Is implicated in a riot in Ajaccio

May 28 – Returns to Paris, instead of rejoining his regiment

September 15 – Escorts his sister, Elisa, back to Corsica

1793

February 22–25 – Commands artillery during an abortive French landing on Maddalena Island, Sardinia

March 3 – Breaks with Paoli, blaming the failed landing on him

June 13 – Arrives with his family in Toulon, having been banished from Corsica by Paoli

August 27 – Toulon handed over to the British by Royalists

September 16 – Given command of the artillery besieging Toulon

October 18 – Promoted to Major

December 17–19 – Leads the successful recapture of Toulon from the British and Royalists

December 22 – Promoted to Brigadier General.

Battles

For comprehensive coverage, see Chandler (1973). For an overall view of the military history of the era see Trevor N. Dupuy and R. Ernest Dupuy, The Encyclopedia of Military History (2nd ed., 1970) pp. 730–770.

Victories

• Toulon (1793)
• Saorgio (1794)
• 13 Vendémiaire (1795)
• Montenotte (1796)
• Second Dego (1796)
• Ceva (1796)
• Mondovì (1796)
• Fombio (1796)
• Lodi (1796)
• Borghetto (1796)
• Lonato (1796)
• Castiglione (1796)
• Rovereto (1796)
• Bassano (1796)
• Arcole (1796)
• Rivoli (1797)
• Mantua (1796–1797)
• La Favorite (1797)
• Valvasone (1797)
• Tagliamento (1797)
• Tarvis (1797)
• French invasion of Malta (1798)
• Alexandria (1798)
• Chobrakit (1798)
• Pyramids (1798)
• Cairo (1798)
• El Arish (1799)
• Jaffa (1799)
• Mount Tabor (1799)
• Abukir (1799)
• Fort Bard (1800)
• Marengo (1800)
• Ulm (1805)
• Austerlitz (1805)
• Jena-Auerstedt (1806)
• Greater Poland Uprising (1806)
• Czarnowo (1806)
• Eylau (1807)
• Friedland (1807)
• Somosierra (1808)
• Teugn-Hausen (1809)
• Abensberg (1809)
• Landshut (1809)
• Eckmühl (1809)
• Ratisbon (1809)
• Wagram (1809)
• Znaim (1809)
• Vitebsk (1812)
• Smolensk (1812)
• Borodino (1812)
• Berezina (1812)
• Lützen (1813)
• Bautzen (1813)
• Reichenbach (1813)
• Dresden (1813)
• Hanau (1813)
• Brienne (1814)
• Champaubert (1814)
• Montmirail (1814)
• Château-Thierry (1814)
• Vauchamps (1814)
• Mormans (1814)
• Montereau (1814)
• Berry-au-Bac (1814)
• Craonne (1814)
• Reims (1814)
• Saint-Dizier (1814)
• Ligny (1815)

Defeats

• Second Bassano (1796)
• Acre (1799)
• Aspern-Essling (1809)
• Krasnoi (1812)
• Leipzig (1813)
• Battle of La Rothière (1814)
• Laon (1814)
• Waterloo (1815)

Indecisive

• Caldiero (1796)
• Arcis-Sur-Aube (1814)

Battle record summary

Date	Battle	Opponent	Location	Outcome
29 Aug-19 Dec 1793	Siege of Toulon		French Republic	Victory
24-28 Apr 1794	Saorgio		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
5 Oct 1795	13 Vendémiaire		French Republic	Victory
11-12 Apr 1796	Montenotte		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
12-13 Apr 1796	Millesimo		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
14-15 Apr 1796	Second Battle of Dego		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
16 Apr 1796	Ceva		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
21 Apr 1796	Mondovi		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
7-9 May 1796	Fombio		Habsburg Italy	Victory
10 May 1796	Lodi		Habsburg Italy	Victory
30 May 1796	Borghetto		Habsburg Italy	Victory
4 Jul 1796-2 Feb 1797	Siege of Mantua		Habsburg Italy	Victory
3-4 Aug 1796	Lonato		Habsburg Italy	Victory
5 Aug 1796	Castiglione		Habsburg Italy	Victory
4 Sep 1796	Rovereto		Habsburg Italy	Victory
8 Sep 1796	Bassano		Habsburg Italy	Victory
15-17 Nov 1796	Arcole		Habsburg Italy	Victory
14-15 Jan 1797	Rivoli		Habsburg Italy	Victory
16 Jan 1797	La Favorite		Habsburg Italy	Victory
16 Mar 1797	Valvasone		Habsburg Italy	Victory
16 Mar 1797	Tagliamento		Habsburg Italy	Victory
21-23 Mar 1797	Tarvis		Habsburg Italy	Victory
10-12 Jun 1798	Malta		Malta	Victory
2 Jul 1798	Alexandria		Mameluk Egypt	Victory
13 Jul 1798	Shubra Khit		Mameluk Egypt	Victory
21 Jul 1798	Pyramids		Mameluk Egypt	Victory
21-22 Oct 1798	Revolt of Cairo		French Egypt	Victory
11-19 Feb 1799	Siege of El Arish		Mameluk Egypt	Victory
3-7 Mar 1799	Siege of Jaffa		Ottoman Empire	Victory
20 Mar–21 May 1799	Acre		Ottoman Empire	Defeat
16 Apr 1799	Mount Tabor		Ottoman Empire	Victory
25 Jul 1799	Abukir		French Egypt	Victory
14 May-1 Jun 1800	Siege of Fort Bard		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
14 Jun 1800	Marengo		Kingdom of Sardinia	Victory
15-20 Oct 1805	Ulm		Electorate of Bavaria	Victory
2 Dec 1805	Austerlitz		Archduchy of Austria	Victory
14 Oct 1806	Jena		Kingdom of Prussia	Victory
9 Nov 1806-15 Jun 1807	Greater Poland Uprising		Kingdom of Prussia	Victory
23 Dec 1806	Czarnowo		Kingdom of Prussia	Victory
7-8 Feb 1807	Eylau		Kingdom of Prussia	Victory
14 Jun 1807	Friedland		Kingdom of Prussia	Victory
30 Nov 1808	Somosierra		Spain	Victory
19 Apr 1809	Teugen-Hausen		Kingdom of Bavaria	Victory
20 Apr 1809	Abensberg		Kingdom of Bavaria	Victory
21 Apr 1809	Landshut		Kingdom of Bavaria	Victory
21-22 Apr 1809	Eckmühl		Kingdom of Bavaria	Victory
23 Apr 1809	Ratisbon		Austrian Empire	Victory
21-22 May 1809	Aspern-Essling		Austrian Empire	Defeat
5-6 Jul 1809	Wagram		Austrian Empire	Victory
26-27 Jul 1812	Vitebsk		Russian Empire	Victory
16-18 Aug 1812	Smolensk		Russian Empire	Victory
7 Sep 1812	Borodino		Russian Empire	Victory
26-29 Nov 1812	Berezina		Russian Empire	Victory
2 May 1813	Lützen		Kingdom of Saxony	Victory
20-21 May 1813	Bautzen		Kingdom of Saxony	Victory
22 May 1813	Reichenbach		Kingdom of Saxony	Victory
26-27 Aug 1813	Dresden		Kingdom of Saxony	Victory
16-19 Oct 1813	Leipzig		Kingdom of Saxony	Defeat
30-31 Oct 1813	Hanau		Duchy of Frankfurt	Victory
29 Jan 1814	Brienne		French Empire	Victory
10 Feb 1814	Champaubert		French Empire	Victory
11 Feb 1814	Montmirail		French Empire	Victory
12 Feb 1814	Chateau-Thierry		French Empire	Victory
14 Feb 1814	Vauchamps		French Empire	Victory
17 Feb 1814	Mormant		French Empire	Victory
18 Feb 1814	Montereau		French Empire	Victory
5 Mar 1814	Berry-au-Bac		French Empire	Victory
7 Mar 1814	Craonne		French Empire	Victory
9-10 Mar 1814	Laon		French Empire	Defeat
12-13 Mar 1814	Reims		French Empire	Victory
20-21 Mar 1814	Arcis-sur-Aube		French Empire	Indecisive
26 Mar 1814	Sain-Dizier		French Empire	Victory
16 Jun 1815	Ligny		United Kingdom of the Netherlands	Victory
18 Jun 1815	Waterloo		United Kingdom of the Netherlands	Defeat

Further reading

Main article: Napoleonic Wars § Further reading

• Bell, David A. The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It (2008) excerpt and text search
• Bruce, Robert B. et al. Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age 1792–1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics (2008) excerpt and text search
• Chandler, David G. The Campaigns of Napoleon (1973) 1172 pp; a detailed guide to all major battles excerpt and text search
• Crowdy, Terry. Napoleon's Infantry Handbook (2015)
• Delderfield, R.F. //Imperial Sunset: The Fall of Napoleon, 1813-14 (2014)
• Dupuy, Trevor N. and Dupuy, R. Ernest. The Encyclopedia of Military History (2nd ed. 1970) pp 730–770
• Dwyer, Philip. Napoleon: The Path to Power (2008) excerpt vol 1; Citizen Emperor: Napoleon in Power (2013) excerpt and text search v 2; most recent scholarly biography
• Elting, John R. Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grand Armee (1988)
• Esdaile, Charles. Napoleon's Wars: An International History 1803-1815 (2008), 621pp
• Gates, David. The Napoleonic Wars 1803-1815 (NY: Random House, 2011)
• Griffith, Paddy. The Art of War of Revolutionary France, 1789–1802 (1998) excerpt and text search
• Harvey, Robert (2013). The War of Wars. Constable & Robinson. p. 328., well-written popular survey of these wars
• Haythornthwaite, Philip J. Napoleon's Military Machine (1995) excerpt and text search
• Hazen, Charles Downer. The French Revolution and Napoleon (1917) online free
• Kagan, Frederick W. The End of the Old Order: Napoleon and Europe, 1801-1805 (2007)
• McLynn, Frank. Napoleon: A Biography (1997)
• Nafziger, George F. The End of Empire: Napoleon's 1814 Campaign (2014)
• Parker, Harold T. "Why Did Napoleon Invade Russia? A Study in Motivation and the Interrelations of Personality and Social Structure," Journal of Military History (1990) 54#2 pp 131–46 in JSTOR.
• Pope, Stephen (1999). The Cassel Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. Cassel. ISBN 0-304-35229-2.
• Rapport, Mike. The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford UP, 2013)
• Riley, Jonathon P. Napoleon as a General (Hambledon Press, 2007)
• Roberts, Andrew. Napoleon: A Life (2014) Major new biography by a leading British historian; 926 pp
• Rothenberg, Gunther E. (1988). "The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon". Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 18 (4): 771–793. JSTOR 204824. JSTOR 204824
• Rothenberg, E. Gunther. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon (1977)
• Schneid, Frederick C. (2011). The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Mainz: Institute of European History.
• Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon's Conquest of Europe: The War of the Third Coalition (2005) excerpt and text search
• Shoffner, Thomas A. Napoleon's Cavalry: A Key Element to Decisive Victory (2014)
• Smith, Digby George. The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery (1998)